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Alleged cartel member Vusimusi “Cat” Matlala has revealed that he received a R20,000 “loan” from former KwaZulu-Natal Hawks head Maj-Gen Lesetja Senona.
In his testimony at the Madlanga commission on Wednesday, Matlala initially refused to talk about his relationship with Senona.
He told the commission this was because the relationship was under investigation by the commission recommendation task team.
He asserted his right not to self-incriminate. However, the commission told him that he could not use a blanket response and hide behind the right not to incriminate himself.
Matlala then told the commission that he had met Senona at a wedding in Pretoria in 2019. He said the relationship grew stronger as Senona would sometimes recommend his security company to prospective clients.
After police raided his home in December 2024, he approached Senona to tell him about it, he said.
“I told him, ‘Listen, they even took my phones. I cannot even make transactions’.
“I even borrowed money from him. I remember that day he gave me R20,000,” Matlala said.
Matlala said he met Senona’s son Thato in 2024 as they had intended to buy a property in Menlyn.
“It was less than R3m, I don’t remember, between R2m and R3m.”
Matlala refused to answer a question on whether Senona received any benefits from him.
“Advocate [Adila] Hassim, that is under investigation,” he responded.
Senona is alleged to have leaked police confidential reports to Matlala, one being the directives to disband the political task team which was believed to be responsible for the two raids at Matlala’s property in December 2024.
Sowetan
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